Paper Mario: The Rune of Elements
by TheEpicMewtwo
Summary: In a story themed around Paper Mario, Mario and the Princess journey to the Astral Kingdom, only for the Princess to be kidnapped by a mysterious syndicate. Mario must piece together the pages of the Rune of Elements to thwart evil and save the world once again.
1. Prologue: Part 1

**So this is my first story on here. I guess should say that I don't own any of these characters, except for any OCs, and those probably have species that are owned by Nintendo. Nintendo owns the Mario series, and they're great. You should support them instead of reading badly written disclaimers.**

* * *

 _Ahem! Today…_

 _I will tell you the story of the Rune of Elements._

 _Once upon a time, in a realm far from here, there lived nine great spirits who watched over the elements in the universe and kept their balance. The spirits were Terra, goddess of the earth, Aeris, ruler of air, Ignis, the god of fire, Glacies, the goddess of ice, Aqua, king of the seas and water, Arbor, the god of nature, Spiritus, ruler of the unseen, and Lux, god of light and electricity._

 _All would have been well if it wasn't for the ninth spirit. Nox, the goddess of darkness, resented the other spirits. She wanted control of all of the elements, and she wasn't about to let the other spirits keep control of the elements. Using her immense power of darkness, she overpowered the other spirits and trapped them in a book, sealing it away in the Earth and sending a powerful beast to guard it. But what Nox didn't realize is that the book containing the spirits still held the power of the elements and was still able to keep the balance between the elements. Without that power, Nox was trapped in her own realm, hardly able to control her own element. The book would remain undiscovered for Millenia, but not forever…_

"Mail call!" shouted Parakarry from the front porch of the Mario Bros. house. After a moment, Luigi opened the door and stepped out.

"Hello, Luigi!" Parakarry said cheerfully. "I have a letter for you!" Luigi smiled and took the letter.

"Is it another letter from the Princess?" Luigi guessed.

"Actually, no." Parakarry said. "This isn't the royal seal on the letter. I consider myself an expert on these things, but I don't recognize the seal… It looks like… several colors surrounding a white pearl?"

"Well, thank you." Luigi said, pushing open the door and watching Parakarry fly away, waving goodbye. "Mario! Mail!" After a moment, Mario came out of their bedroom, looking sleepy and just a bit annoyed.

"Is it another letter from Princess Peach?" he asked.

"No, it's not, actually. Here, I'll just read it to you." Luigi answered, ripping open the envelope to read the small note that was inside.

"Dear Mario and Co.,

We of the Astral Kingdom would like to invite you to the grand opening of the Praetum Town Museum. We have compiled artifacts from all over the world for the pleasure of our customers, and you are cordially invited, free of charge. We would be honored if you and any guest you would like to bring would come to the grand opening festival. If you would like to attend, a ship that we've sent will pick you up at the Surfshine Harbor at 10:00 AM. Don't be late!"

"Do you think we should go, Mario?" Luigi questioned, putting the letter down. Mario yawned.

"I guess we should. Although these 'vacations' always end up with me having to save the world." Mario replied. Luigi rolled his eyes.

"All the more reason we should go, if there's gonna be something we have to save! Let's get down to the Surfshine Harbor!"

The two Mario brothers made their way through Toad Town and to its harbor, where they found Princess Peach and Toadsworth.

 _Wait, what?_ Mario thought. _I didn't even invite them yet._

"Hi, Mario!" Peach said. "Did you get an invitation to the Astral Kingdom too?"

"Yes, I did!" Mario replied, perking up. "I didn't realize you'd gotten an invitation!"

"I just _love_ museums." Peach gushed. "They always have such great things to see, and such fun things to do, and we're even going to another, foreign kingdom to see it!"

"Against my better judgement." Toadsworth grumbled. "Every time you leave town, you get kidnapped, Princess! I'm tired of having to babysit you and keep you from getting into trouble!"

"We have Mario for that!" Peach giggled. "You need to lighten up and learn to have fun, Toadsworth!" Toadsworth's face turned red, and he looked like he was going to respond, but then a small boat pulled into the harbor, bearing the same symbol, a circle of eight colors surrounding a pearl.

"Mario and Princess Peach, I am here to escort you, and any guests, to the Astral Kingdom." said the Toad driving the motorboat. Mario held up his invitation, and Peach did the same. The Toad on the boat nodded and pushed a button, opening the gate leading onto the boat. Mario and Luigi stepped on the boat, and Peach pulled Toadsworth on despite his protests. The motor started, and the boat sped away from the harbor and the Mushroom Kingdom.

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 **So that's the beginning of the prologue. What do you think? Any advice or criticism is welcome. Just post your review and tell me what you think!**


	2. Prologue: Part 2

**So here's part 2 of the Prologue. This one's longer than the last, and we get to meet the villainous team that's going to be causing trouble, although not the main villain himself. Last I checked, I still didn't own any of the Mario series characters.**

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The Mario brothers, along with Peach and Toadsworth, stepped out of the boat into a quiet little town with streets paved with stone and houses built with grey stone bricks. It looked like it had stepped out of a medieval storybook.

"Oh, Mario!" Peach said from beside him. "It's such a charming little town!" She was looking around at all the sights, and Mario had to admit that it was a pretty cool town. He stood there for a second, enjoying the cool spring air, when a Toadette with a purple mushroom and blonde pigtails ran up to him. As she got closer, Mario could see that she was holding a microphone and a camera.

Training the camera at him, she said, "Here we are on Channel 9 news with Dot T., interviewing the famous Super Mario, who has come to our Praetum Town invited to the grand opening of the museum! Mario, do you have anything to say? What made you want to come to this city?"

 _Not much of a city,_ Mario thought. Out loud, he responded, "Well, this morning we got an invitation in the mail. We decided to go, since we didn't have a whole lot else to do." He shrugged.

"What an enthralling tale!" the Toadette, who Mario supposed was Dot T., said without a hint of sarcasm. "And here's his famous brother, uh…"

"Luigi." Luigi grumbled.

"Right, right! So, Louie, how do you like this town so far?"

"Well, it's… small, I guess. It's a pretty interesting place. It looks like it's jumped out of a storybook."

"That's right!" Dot said, smiling. "This town has kept its traditional appearance even as technology has expanded. Now, Princess Peach, what do you think of this neighboring kingdom so far?"

"Well, it's a nice place." Peach murmured. "A bit quiet, but there's nothing wrong with that."

"Great, great! Our interview's over, folks!" Dot said. "Join us tomorrow for-"

A loud crash sounded from a few blocks away, and then Mario heard a scream.

"What was that?" He asked Dot T. "Nothing serious, I hope."

But Dot gasped. "Th..That was the museum! Hurry! You're a hero, right?"

Mario considered it. "Well, I guess I am." He decided. "Let's go see what's going on!" He ran in the direction of the scream, with Dot, Peach, and Luigi following in his wake.

"Princess! This is decidedly unsafe!" Toadsworth shouted from the docks. "You need to stay here with me, where it's safe! Princess!" Toadsworth's voice faded away as Mario dashed towards the museum. He stopped at a dime at the entryway to an imposing building labeled _Praetum Town Museum_. The door had a huge hole in it, almost as if it had been smashed by something large.

Luigi, catching up to him, said, "I don't know about this, bro… What's going on?"

Mario poked his head into the door, but saw nothing. In fact, the corridors he could see were all empty.

"Well, _somebody_ screamed." Peach pouted. "We'd better go in and check." She slipped through the broken door and ran into the museum before anyone could stop her.

"Hey, wait!" Mario shouted. "Princess!" He climbed through the door, avoiding shards of broken glass, and dashed inside. He darted through the museum, following the sound of Peach's footsteps, until he started hearing another sound… No. That was a voice.

"All right, all of you!" the voice said. It was a harsh, gruff voice that could have been a gym teacher's. "We've got the Rune. Let's move out!"

Turning a corner, Mario could see Peach peering into the next room as Mario ran up to her.

"Peach, what's going on?" Mario whispered. "It sounds like they're stealing something!" Instead of responding, Peach pointed into the next room, an atrium with an open ceiling, which was filled with several Koopas and Goombas all wearing dark, evil-looking sunglasses, standing next to a small jet that they presumably landed in. An imposing figure stood over them barking orders. It was a gigantic Sledge Bro. with a purple shell and helmet, and wearing purple dark glasses. But his most defining feature was the huge axe he was carrying, still dripping with blood. Mario shivered with fear. Who _was_ this Koopa with a bloody axe and barking orders to soldiers, and stealing… was that a book? Mario's train of thought was interrupted by Dot and another Toad running up to him and the Princess.

"I found the cura-" Dot T. started, but Mario clamped a hand over her mouth and put a finger to his lips. Following his gaze, Dot stared over at the axe-wielding Sledge Bro. and recognition crossed her face. She pulled out a notepad and began writing something down on it. Mario noted that she seemed to be staring at the Sledge Bro. intently, almost as if studying its mannerisms. His attention turned to the other Toad. This Toad was a bit taller than Dot, with a grey "mushroom" with white spots and a grey handlebar mustache. He was wearing a fancy suit.

"You can't let them go through with stealing that… book." Peach whispered to Mario. Mario knew that she was right, but he was a bit scared of that gigantic gleaming axe. He was glad that Luigi had waited outside, since he'd likely be screaming by now.

"You're right." Mario mumbled back, then grinned. "Let's-a do this." He suddenly dashed out of his hiding spot and landed a jump squarely on one Koopa Troopa, line-jumping across them and finally ground-pounding on the head of the gigantic Sledge Bro.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" Asked the Sledge Bro. "It's Mario, the _great hero_ of the Mushroom Kingdom!" Mario only glared at him. "Well, I can introduce myself. You can call me Axis. I'm the second in command at the Toxis Syndicate." He sneered at Mario, almost daring him to attack, but Mario just glared and clenched his fists. "Aww, what's the matter?" Axis sneered. "Is the widdle pwummer scared?" In response, Mario used a Jump attack on the hulking beast.

"I'm not afraid of you." Mario said as he landed. "I'm cautious." he continued as Axis swung his axe at Mario, only to be greeted with a Superguard.

Axis only laughed. "I see you know your way around a battle." he jeered. "But it won't matter." Before Mario could ask what that meant, he swung his axe again, and Mario only guarded - superguarding was too risky with its narrow chance of success. He could feel the axe penetrating his hand, but didn't think about the pain, since he was pulling out his hammer and swinging it against Axis's shell. When Mario got a closer look, he saw that Axis wore a black insignia on his chest in the same shape as the sunglasses that he and all the minions were wearing. Mario was taken aback when he realized that all of the minions wore this insignia too.

"Well, it's been fun playing with you, but I'm afraid you have to be leaving." Mario felt hands hoisting him up, and when he looked down he could see several Koopa Troopas trying to carry him. One, holding a rope, started tying Mario up, only to be greeted with a faceful of hammer. Mario swung his hammer around, getting rid of all of the Koopas holding him, and then noticed that several Goombas were carrying Princess Peach, who had already been tied up. _Axis wasn't trying to kill me,_ Mario noted miserably, _he was just distracting me so he could get at my friends and me._ He ran towards the Goombas, but it was too late, as they had already loaded Peach onto the jet.

"Princess!" he shouted. Axis started walking towards the jet plane, with the intent of getting on, but Mario dashed over to him and grabbed the stolen book, though all he could grab was its pages.

"You foolish plumber." Axis said, pulling the book back, but not out of Mario's grasp. "You have no idea about the scope of our plans." Mario focused all of his energy into pulling, stopping them from stealing the book, and suddenly he was knocked back, letting go. He'd gotten the book, all right. But the pages had all flown out and up. Up, out of the room through the open ceiling, and up, where they spread out and started falling, all in different directions. All Mario could think was, _Here we go again._

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 **Wow, that was pretty long. And there's still one part of the Prologue left to go before we get into the meat of the "game." Please review, I could really use your criticism or suggestions!**


	3. Prologue: Part 3

**So here's the third part of the story, and the last part of the Prologue! The plot's starting to unfold, and we're introduced to another partner! I know, two partners in the prologue is a bit much, but I couldn't resist. I have too many ideas!**

* * *

Mario stood shell-shocked watching both the jet and the pages of the book fly high into the sky and vanish. He was so lost in his own thoughts, he didn't hear Dot and the other Toad walk up to him until Dot tapped him on the shoulder.

"Yo, Mario! Hey, come in, Mario! Earth to Mario!" Mario finally turned his head to see Dot frantically waving her arms. The other, mustachioed Toad also looked shaken, though he was more withdrawn. _It would be easy to look more withdrawn than Dot,_ Mario thought.

"Those fiends managed to get away with the Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom!" said the other Toad. "This is perfectly unacceptable!" Mario looked at him strangely, and he said, "Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Shiff, the curator of this museum. An archeology team found the Rune of Elements, a book once raised to mythic status, believed to hold the power of the elements inside its pages, in underground ruins in this very town. And now, the pages have been lost. All we have is the cover…"

"Wait, you found the _Rune_ in a _ruin_?" Mario asked incredulously, thinking of the irony. "Did you call them the Ruins of Elements?" But before Shiff could respond, Dot began speaking.

With a flourish, Dot pulled out her camera and notepad. "Channel 9 news, Dot T. reporting live! The Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom has been stolen away by the mysterious Toxis syndicate in an attempt to steal the Rune of Elements before the grand opening festival of the museum! And worse, the pages of the Rune of Elements have been scattered all over And Mario, mustachioed hero of the Mushroom Kingdom, has agreed to reclaim them! Details at eleven." She put her camera away.

"Wait, I never agreed to finding those pages!" Mario shouted. "I'll rescue the Princess, but, come on! Roping me into some conflict I have no idea about?"

"Well, too late now!" Dot said cheerfully. "Besides, you can bet that the pages are going to be a primary target for this evil corporation. I'd hate to see what happens when that guy _isn't_ just toying with you."

"Besides," Shiff started, "The Rune of Elements supposedly keeps the elements in balance. According to legend, without it, we'd have raging firestorms, powerful tsunamis, and freak blizzards. We need you to assemble this book before it's too late!"

"All right, you've convinced me." Mawrio conceded. "So, I bet we should go to these ruins you said were right here in town. Maybe we can find out how to find those pages."

Dot smiled. "That's the spirit!" she chirped. "And you know what? Because I got you into this whole conflict in the first place, I'll help you get the pages back! There's no question that a ton of things will happen out there, and I'll be there to film it all!"

Mario thought for a moment. "I guess you can come with me." he decided. "But it's going to be dangerous out there."

 _Dot T., aspiring Toad journalist, joined your party!_

 _She's always taking notes on site, so in battle she can tell you about enemies and monsters to help you defeat them!_

 _She can also ram into enemies for a powerful Headbutt attack!_

 _In the field, she can tell you about notable locations or people you should know about!_

"So," Mario said, "Which way to the ruins?"

"I'm not so sure you want to do that." Shiff said. "A monstrous beast guards the ruins. Our archaeologists were barely able to make it out of there alive!"

Mario smirked. "I can deal with that. Come on, Dot!"

Dot grinned. "Let's go!"

Leaving the museum, they were greeted by Luigi. "So, how'd it go?" he asked them. After Mario brought him up to speed, Luigi looked shell-shaken. "The princess was kidnapped? A beast that guards the ruins? A quest through the kingdom to reclaim the eight pages? I don't know, bro. I think I'm just going to stay here." he decided.

"All right." Mario said. "You can always join if you're looking for adventure!" He gave Luigi a thumbs up, and followed Dot and Shiff to the ruins.

The ruins were dark, deep, and damp. Mario carried a torch as he nervously descended, and Dot wasn't faring any better. Shiff had decided he'd rather stay aboveground, and Mario couldn't blame him. The staircase finally ended into an open room. For a moment, it was as silent as a grave, then Mario heard something growling. Apparently Dot heard it too.

"Uh, Mario? Has your voice been changing recently?" she asked.

Mario turned his lantern in the direction of the growling noises and found himself face-to-face with a Chain Chomp. _No big deal_ , he thought. _I've dealt with tougher monsters._ But on closer inspection, the Chain Chomp appeared to be skeletal, with a chain made entirely out of bones. _Great, more ancient stuff trying to kill me,_ he thought. _This is my lucky day._ The Chain Chomp lunged at Mario, barking, and Mario jumped on him to begin battle.

Mario stomped on the creature, and it roared, its skull chipping a little. "Dot? Is there anything you can tell me about this guy?" Dot looked up from her notepad, where she had been hurriedly scribbling.

"Well, it's a skeleton Chain Chomp, but you could probably tell that yourself. It'll attack by lunging at you, if what it just did is any indication. From what I can tell, its HP is 10, its Attack is 2, and its Defense is 0. It shouldn't be too bad to beat, but let's beat it and get out of here!"

"Thanks, Dot!" he yelled as he guarded against a lunge from the Chain Chomp again. He then dashed up to it while it retreated and smashed it with his hammer.

"I'll help, Mario!" Dot shouted before ramming headfirst into the beast, damaging it further, before it lunged again, this time at Dot. Dot failed to dodge, and took a powerful bite from the Chain Chomp.

"That's it, you crazy monster!" Dot shouted, ramming headfirst into it. The Chain Chomp let out a roar before keeling over. It was still conscious, and looked at Mario and whined.

"It seems almost sad." Mario said. "Like it was just attacking us out of anger." Mario felt along to the end of the chain, where he felt a wooden stake trapping the Chain Chomp.

Dot saw it too, and she said, "Maybe it doesn't want to be chained up." she mused. "Maybe it can even help us!" Before Mario could protest, she grabbed his hammer and smashed it into the stake, freeing the Chomp. It grinned at Mario and hopped over to him. Mario was wary, but he patted it on the head, which it seemed to like.

"Hey, guy, the Rune of Elements has been destroyed, and we're trying to fix it." Mario told him, not expecting much. But the Chomp looked really surprised at this news.

"Is there anything you can do to help us?" Mario finished. The chomp bobbed its head up and down and the bones making up its "chain" formed into a square. Mario didn't recognize anything, but Dot did.

"It's a map of the Astral Kingdom!" she told Mario. "And look! These bones making a star shape - these are the Pebble Plains, a boulder-strewn path to the east of town!" The Chain Chomp nodded again, this time seeming almost excited.

"I do feel bad for leaving it down here." she confided. "It must stink to be stuck guarding these ruins."

"Well, I guess we can take it with us." Mario decided. "Now that it's not trying to kill us and all. But what should we call it? 'Skeleton Chain Chomp' doesn't really have that ring to it."

"Let's call it Bone!" Dot proclaimed. Mario just sighed. "Well, can _you_ think of a better name?"

"All right, fine. Would you like to come with us, Bone?" Bone bobbed its head up and down again. It seemed ecstatic. Without another word, Bone began hopping up the stairs to its freedom, while Dot and Mario followed.

 _Bone, the skeleton Chain Chomp, has joined your party!_

 _Bone can charge a Bite attack in battle to attack enemies!_

 _He can also be swung around by Mario and then thrown for large damage at the cost of Flower Points!_

 _On the field, he can charge to destroy large boulders or walls with cracks in them._

Back on the surface, Shiff didn't seem too happy that they'd brought the "beast" with them. "No, it's okay!" Dot reassured. "It's friendly, I swear!"

"Hrmmm…" Shiff grunted. "If you insist. Did you find out where the pages could be?"

"Well, we found out the location of one." said Mario. "It's on the Pebble Plains, or something like that."

"Well, that should be simple enough." said Shiff. "It's just to the east of this town. It's definitely within walking distance from here. I wish you luck on your journey, Mario."

"Thanks!" Mario and Dot shouted in unison, with Bone barking happily as he followed them towards the Pebble Plains, towards the first page of the Rune, and on the first step on the road to saving Princess Peach once again.

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 **So what do you think of the Prologue? Next time, we're going to see the beginning of the first chapter! Look forward to that!**


	4. Chapter 1: Part 1

**Chapter 1, you guys! Are you hyped? Because I am! I still don't own anything, although I would love to.**

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Leaving Praetum Town, Mario wandered out of the city into a beautiful plain with rolling grasslands, flowers, and large boulders. Several boulders walled off a path of small stones, forcing Mario and his friends to walk along a specific path instead of wandering off.

"Be careful, Mario." Dot T. warned. "Tons of unfriendly Goombas, Koopa Troopas and other monsters make this area their home. You should probably be on your guard." She looked apprehensive for a moment, then switched to excitement. "We're going on an adventure, though! Isn't this just really exciting?" Bone barked in agreement, both of them grinning.

"Look, Dot, it's not all sunshine and rainbows. If my previous adventure has taught me anything, it's that whoever's gotten ahold of the first page — or _any_ of the pages, really — won't be very friendly. Heck, I remember one adventure a few years ago when one of the Crystal Stars was swallowed by a dragon, another was stolen by a corrupt arena manager, and don't even _ask_ me about the ghost who turned me into a shadow and stole my identity." Mario continued to tell his story about the quest for the Thousand-Year Door to calm his nerves as they walked, because he needed something to distract him. Princess Peach was kidnapped by some evil, villainous corporation they knew practically nothing about, he'd been roped into fixing some sort of ancient book for a museum in a kingdom he'd never been in before, and to top that off, he was hungry.

"Hey, you!" a gruff voice growled. Mario looked up, and saw nothing. Then he looked down, and saw two Goombas steadily attacking his feet. The Goombas weren't wearing any sunglasses, so Mario figured that they were just brutish, stupid Goombas who came that way on the box and didn't work for anyone. "Yeah, you!" one repeated, staring up at Mario. "We don't like intruders in these parts, so get out or face my wrath!"

"Gosh, I'm really sorry, Goomba," Dot started, all sugar as usual, "But we need to find something in this area, so I'm afraid _you'll_ have to be the one to clear out." This suggestion wasn't popular with either of the Goombas.

"Let's get 'em, Bob!" one of them said, and they both charged at Mario. Dot headbutted one while Bone rammed the other, and they both fell down.

"That's it! We're going to go tell all our friends, and they'll find you and take you down!" the Goombas threatened before running away, probably to cry to Mommy. Pocketing a few Star Points, Mario couldn't help but feel a little sorry for them. _Getting emotional can wait,_ he thought. _Those Goombas are probably gonna send all their friends our way._ Sure enough, as they continued along the path, they started seeing more and more Goombas, Spiky Goombas, and Para-Goombas.

"You do know that you can't stomp Spiky Goombas and you can't hammer-" Dot started, but Mario cut her off with a wave of her hand.

"Don't worry." he said. "I know that part. I'm more worried about species that _aren't_ native to the Mushroom Kingdom. What kind of monsters hang around these areas besides Goombas?"

Dot opened her mouth to speak, but they reached a town before they could say anything. "Hey!" Dot cried. "We're in Boulder Village already?" Mario looked around. The grass ended here, and the ground in Boulder Village consisted of rocks, rocks, more rocks, and maybe a few stones. The buildings here were also made out of rocks, but they were more crudely built than those in Praetum Town. Several green-shelled Koopas roamed the town, talking to each other and generally being friendly. Most of the buildings in the town surrounded an equally crudely built fountain in the center of the town, but Mario also noticed a small house off to the side, a good distance away.

"What a cute little town!" Dot exclaimed. Bone looked around, and Mario noticed that he seemed to be excited to take all of the sights in. But beneath the happy appearance of the town, Mario felt like the atmosphere was somewhat tense. While Dot ran around, greeting everyone with Bone by her side, getting odd looks from everyone, Mario just observed. Everyone was acting happy, but seemed a little… on edge? Mario didn't really know how to describe it, but it made him nervous. He didn't really realize what was wrong, though, until a Koopa dashed up to him.

"Hey!" the Koopa shouted. "Are you Mario?" Mario nodded warily, since he didn't really know what this was all about.

"Whoa, really? That's great! We _really_ need your help. Here, come with me." The Koopa led him into a building that was larger and more imposing than the others, where a lot of chairs surrounded a central podium. The Koopa led Mario to the stage area, and Mario noticed several Koopas sitting in the audience. The Koopa pulled out a gavel and banged it against the podium to get everyone's attention.

"This session of the Boulder Village town council will now come to order!" the Koopa commanded. "Normally the mayor would initiate this meeting, but he's… absent today."

"Absent, my foot." muttered a Koopa in the audience. "He's been 'absent' for the past 30 meetings."

"Regardless." said the Koopa at the podium. "I have great news! The hero Mario has arrived!" Loud cheers erupted from the audience. Mario was a bit worried about what this was all about, but he had to admit, it was nice to be recognized.

Mario turned to face the Koopa. "What's this all about?" he asked. The Koopa cleared his throat loudly, and began to speak.

"There was once a mountain north of this village, which allowed us to have a plentiful harvest by trapping rain here and keeping it from going to the Twisted Canyon. However, a massive sinkhole has opened, completely swallowing the mountain, keeping us from getting much rain. This is not a crisis in itself, but the sinkhole grows bigger by the day and soon will swallow the town if something is not done. We need your help, Mario! We need you to do whatever heroes do and stop the sinkhole from growing any bigger."

Mario blinked for a moment, taking it all in. "I can't promise I can help you." he finally said. "But I can go take a look and see what this is all about." Loud whoops and cheers erupted from the audience.

"There is one more thing." said the Koopa at the podium. "We can't act without the consent of our mayor, Mayor Cruft, who has become a recluse, building his house far away from the rest of town. He hasn't left his house in months, and we're all starting to worry."

Mario thought for a moment, and he said, "I'll go find this Cruft guy. Again, I can't promise anything, but I can try to get him to help us."

"All right, it's a deal!" said the Koopa. "Thank you so much!"

 _I hope I'm not getting in over my head._ Mario thought. _I really, really hope._

Leaving the building, he tracked down Dot and Bone, who were still seeing the sights.

"Hey, guys!" he shouted to them, and they ran over. "So I agreed to help the town with something." He then proceeded to explain the situation.

"Wow, we're doing hero stuff already!" Dot exclaimed, exuberant as always. "How about that?" Bone barked happily in agreement. Mario noticed that Dot was holding his bone-chain like a leash, and seemed to be "walking" Bone. Mario found a bit of humor in "walking" a creature that was created to guard an ancient book containing a great power, but he kept it to himself.

"So the mayor's house is that house way, way over there, right?" Dot asked. "I checked that place, and it's locked with a deadbolt. We need a key." Mario sighed.

"There's _always_ something, isn't there?" he complained. "Maybe this Cruft guy is the kind of guy who hides a spare key in the bushes or something. Let's go and check." He dashed off over to the secluded house, and Dot followed. Mario inspected the door. "This is really, most sincerely locked. It's just too bad everything's paper… In the 'real' world I could just fold up into a key…" he muttered.

"Huh?" Dot asked, intrigued. "What did you say?"

"Nothing." Mario mumbled. "So let's see… Let's split up, and check the porch and the area around it for the key. Bone, you sniff around for a key. Dot and I will search possible hiding places." Bone nodded in compliance, and hopped off, sniffing everything.

"Dot, you check under the porch." Mario ordered. "I'll check the bushes." Mario hammered the bushes surrounding the house, but there was nothing behind them. He was about to give up when Dot shouted out.

"Mario!" she said. "I think I found something!" Mario ran over to Dot, who was holding up a small note, which read,

 _For Cruft's eyes only! In case I forget me key and forget where the spare key be, there be a hint on this here note!_

 _The key be in a tool that I use for me job!_

"A tool that he uses for his job?" Dot asked, breaking the silence. "Isn't he the mayor? What kind of 'tools' do you use if you're mayor?"

"Maybe he has another job on the side?" Mario suggested. "Maybe he has a garden or something, and he sells the vegetables that he-"

"A garden? In _this_ town?" Dot said incredulously, gesturing to the rocky ground. Mario shrugged.

"Well, what kinds of tools would a mayor use? He's got to have something else that he's doing." Bone, who had hopped back a minute ago, perked up. He barked a couple of times, and started hopping back into the town circle.

"Hey, wait! Come back!" Dot shouted as she ran after the errant Chain Chomp. Bone started bonking his head against the door to the town hall, and when Mario and Dot arrived, he looked at them sadly and whined.

"We already said that he doesn't have any tools for his job as a mayor!" Mario said. Bone growled, and continued to bonk his head against the door.

"Mario, come on, let's just humor him." Dot pleaded. Mario sighed and opened the door to the town hall, which was thankfully empty. He looked around, but Bone was ahead of him, and hopped up to the podium and grabbed the gavel between his teeth. He hopped over to Mario and offered him the gavel.

"Oh, uh, thanks." Mario said. "But how could it be inside this thing?" Mario inspected the gavel, which offered little help.

"Maybe you unscrew one of the sides like so?" Dot questioned, grabbing the side of the gavel and twisting it until it popped off and a key fell out.

"Bone was right all along!" Mario exclaimed. "But how did he know there was a gavel in the town hall? He wasn't even with me at the meeting!"

"Yeah, what's with that?" Dot asked, patting Bone on the head. Bone just grinned and barked happily.

"Well, whatever. We've got the key, now let's go!" Mario said, as they exited the courthouse. Little did they know what they were in for...

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 **Don't forget to review to tell me what you think or suggest anything!**


	5. Chapter 1: Part 2

**Well, this is the second part of Chapter 1. We meet a new partner, and the action starts to pick up with a bit more plot _and_ a mini-boss battle! I still don't own any Mario characters. Also, is anyone hyped for the rumored Paper Mario Wii U? Cross your fingers for a good story!**

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For a moment, all was silent as they entered the house. They both scanned the rocky house. There were some stones scattered around the floor, a few chairs, a table, and some other necessities.

"Doesn't seem to be anyone here." Mario said, picking up the stones and inspecting them. "Maybe we were just barking up the wrong tree." Bone seemed to take noticeable offense at the remark.

"Hey, watch who yer pickin' up, whippersnapper!" Mario heard a voice shout. His eyes darted around the room, but all he could see was Dot looking noticeably shaken. "That's right! Put me down before I use me spikes on ya!" Mario looked at the rock he was holding, and came to the sudden realization that it wasn't a rock. It was a brown Cleft, with white rocks on its face appearing to form a "beard." Mario dropped him in shock.

"Who are you?" he asked nervously.

"Yeh really couldn't figger that out? Young folk these days... They think they be knowin' everything, but then they rely on us to-" Mario interrupted him.

"So, you're Cruft, right?" Mario asked impatiently. Cruft nodded.

"That's right, but I ain't havin' any visitors, you young whippersnapper! So git out! Now!" Some spikes from holes in his head as he advanced on the trio angrily. Bone, having none of it, barked angrily and started tearing after Cruft, who yelped and ran away as fast as he could, but since he was a rock, it wasn't that fast.

"Call yer dog off, or I'll be havin' you all thrown in a cell! I swear it!" He shouted, trying to fend off Bone's teeth and hard head.

"Bone, down! Down, boy!" Mario yelled. Bone immediately obeyed, although he continued to growl at Cruft.

"Look, we don't want to fight," said Dot. "We need your help. A sinkhole has opened up north of this town, swallowing the mountain. It's growing bigger, and it's going to swallow the town! We need your permission, or whatever, to do something about it!"

That stopped Cruft in his tracks. "You be sayin'... The whole town is doomed?" he asked, voice wavering. "And ya all need me help?" Dot nodded, a determined expression on her face. Mario had to admire her skill. When she needed it to, her happy-go-lucky personality would completely disappear and she'd actually act serious.

"Yeah," Mario added. "The townspeople are panicking." Cruft, now noticeably shocked, was taken aback. He ran over to the table and jumped onto it, giving him a good view of the window.

"Doesn't look like they be panickin'." Cruft stated. "They look more angry to me. But then, I'm not so good with readin' people."

"Angry…?" Dot asked, confused. "What are you looking at, Mister Cruft?" She ran over to the window, and her eyes went wide. "Mario." she said. "You need to come see this." Mario dashed over to the window. The first thing he noticed was the darkness. Apparently, night had fallen while they were arguing with Cruft. The second thing he noticed was the torches. There had to be dozens of lights, and they cast an illumination on the faces of the angry Koopas holding them, and also pitchforks.

"Great Scott." Cruft muttered. Mario couldn't help but agree. Apparently, the Koopas couldn't wait for them to negotiate.

"I'll go try to calm them down." Mario told the rest. Bone and Dot nodded, but Cruft harrumphed.

"I'm not going to let them destroy me house. If they be uprisin', so be it. But they better not be destroying anything that's mine. I'm comin' with ya." Mario stared at the Cleft for a moment, and then sighed. "All right."

 _Cruft, the grumpy old Cleft, joined your party!_

 _He can dash into enemies with his spikes extended to do damage!_

 _He can also pound on top of enemies with his crushing weight!_

 _In the field, he can pound down to flip objects over and make the ground shake!_

Mario and Cruft dashed out of the house to the angry mob of Koopas.

"We won't stand for you acting as a recluse instead of running our town like you should be!" one extremely angry Koopa shouted.

"Yeah! The town's in danger and you just locked yourself away? We'll destroy you for this!" another shouted.

"Wait, stop!" Mario shouted in an attempt to calm the crowd. "He's agreed to help us!" If anything, that statement only seemed to make the mob madder.

"You're too late!" a blue-shelled Koopa, who seemed to be the leader of the mob, shouted. "The sinkhole grows bigger by the day, and in a couple days it'll swallow the town! There's nothing we can do now! And you'll _pay_ for that!" The crowd cheered.

"They're too angry to listen to reason!" Mario yelled over the roars of the angry mob. "It looks like we'll have to fight them, or they'll destroy us!" Cruft nodded, and they both charged into the crowd. The blue-shelled Koopa, flanked by several other Koopas, ran out to greet them. Mario attacked with a line stomp attack, flipping over the Koopas surrounding the leader, but the leader Koopa refused to be knocked over. Cruft charged through them, knocking back the flipped-over Koopas, though the leader's shell protected him.

The leader Koopa roared, "Backup! I need backup!" Instantly, a bunch of Koopas ran to his side.

"This isn't working." said Mario. "The normal Koopas are guarding him, but he just summons more if we defeat all of them." Cruft seemed to have an idea.

"Do ya have a Fire Flower?" he asked Mario, who nodded. "Then use it! Now!" Mario pulled one out of his bag and used it, damaging and defeating the Koopas and leaving the leader unguarded. "Quick!" Cruft yelled. "Stomp on him!" Mario didn't have to be told twice. He dashed up to the Koopa before he could summon more backup and used a Power Bounce, dealing a huge amount of damage and knocking him back.

In the chaos that followed, Mario shouted, "Look, we will stop this sinkhole! You have my word as hero of the Mushroom Kingdom!" He had no idea if it would work, but he seemed to have a bit more of their attention.

"And I," Cruft announced, "Will risk me life and limb to be helpin' this town! Mario and me will be savin' this town and stopping this sinkhole from growin' any longer."

"Wait, what?" Mario whispered to Cruft.

"Later." Cruft said. "We'll be makin' the journey to the sinkhole at sunrise! And we'll be makin' it stop swallowin' this town!" Mario closed his eyes. _Please let this work,_ he prayed. He heard the mob roared. _Oh, no…_ He thought. _He's somehow made them even madder._ But when he opened his eyes, that wasn't what greeted him at all. The Koopas were cheering, applauding, this heroic act, and Mario couldn't help but be surprised that Cruft would risk his life for a town that was ready to turn against him and kill him just a second ago.

"I can't blame ya for bein' angry." Cruft continued, "And I can't blame ya for attackin' me house. But I'll repay ya for all those lost years. I'll be stoppin' that evil sinkhole!" More cheers. Mario grinned. He couldn't believe it.

A bunch of Koopas ran up to them, all of them looking ecstatic. Mario ran back into the house. Dot and Bone greeted him happily.

"We were watching that whole scene from the window. We wanted to help, but we were worried that you were making them madder." Dot said. "But, wow! You really pulled that off!"

"Thanks!" Mario said, beaming. "Let's stay a night in the hotel here. Tomorrow, we go stop that sinkhole, and find that page of the Rune!"

* * *

 **Well, what do you think? Any suggestions? Complaints? Criticisms? Just leave a review, tell me what you think, and don't forget to follow or fav!**


	6. Chapter 1: Part 3

**So this is the last part of Chapter 1. Don't worry, the next few chapters will have more going on. I feel like the boss isn't the most creative thing I could've come up with, but I hope you like this story so far.**

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The first thing Mario heard was a knocking noise. He pushed the covers over his ears to block out the sound, but that just made the knocking louder and more persistent. Eventually, Mario woke up completely and looked around, remembering where he was.

"I'll be out in a second." he shouted.

"Great, thanks." Dot's voice confirmed.

Mario leaped out of the bed and grabbed his clothes and quickly changed. After hurriedly washing his face, brushing his teeth, and shaving, he finally opened the door.

"About time. What were ya doin' in there, shavin' your back?" Cruft grumbled. Dot giggled, while Mario decided not to comment.

"Well, it looks like the gang's all here!" Mario said, looking around at the faces of Dot, Cruft and Bone. Cruft didn't seem too happy to be there, but Bone and Dot looked excited to get this show on the road.

"Er, Cruft?" Mario asked. "You aren't regretting what you promised last night, right? Because if the angry mob was any indication, there isn't really a whole lot of going back on that."

Cruft rolled his eyes. "No, I ain't." he said. "I just wanna get up and get out, and waitin' for you whippersnapper isn't the way to do it." Mario rolled his eyes.

"Let's go." He decided, walking down the staircase to the main lobby of the hotel. After turning in their room keys, the team decided to start fresh and early.

"But we haven't even had breakfast yet!" Dot complained.

"You youngsters be coddled too much. Why, back in me day, we was lucky if we even got us any supper!" Cruft pointed out to a chorus of groans. They began walking on the trail leading north, and Mario couldn't help but notice that the path was becoming less grass and more rocks. Some red-shelled Koopas had also decided to attack them along with some rogue Bald Clefts, making the journey up the foothills difficult.

On the way, Mario kept noticing a strange growl. He looked around, trying to discern where the noise was coming from, but he didn't see anything. He saw that Dot and Cruft had taken notice also, and Bone was sniffing the whole area to find the source of the noise.

"You guys hear that too, huh?" Mario asked, and Dot nodded.

"It's getting louder, too, as we get closer to whatever this hole is that's opening up. That's… well, it's strange." she said, looking around apprehensively. Mario nodded.

"Seems like whatever it is, it be pretty big." Cruft pointed out. "Nothing small could make growls like that." Mario noted that he was right, since the growling had become louder and louder. It had practically become louder and louder, until they were practically surrounded by growls. He wondered why that-

"Mario, look out!" Dot squealed. Mario stopped on a dime, and realized that he'd nearly walked into a bottomless pit! He looked down into the pit, but all he could see was darkness. He heard another growl sound, and the pit yawned and collapsed, although as Mario jumped back he noticed that the pit was bigger than before.

"Those townspeople were right about one thing. It's definitely growing." Mario noted, inspecting the hole. "Don't you think?" Turning around, he saw that his partners were no longer focusing on the hole. Rather, they seemed to be turning their attention to something in the sky. Mario looked up, and gasped.

"It's one of the pages of the Rune!" He shouted. The paper that was floating down was characteristic of that book he held, and looked to be about the right size. It also was glowing with a faint brown light, and the text on the page matched.

"You'd better grab it." Dot noted, as Mario prepared a jump. Cruft just looked confused.

"You're right, Dot." Mario said. "I don't know if we'll ever save the world in time if one of the pages falls down that pit." Cruft tilted his head, and Mario realized that he'd never told him about their mission. "I'll explain later." Mario jumped up in the hopes of grabbing the page that was slowly floating down, but he came up short, and for a few moments, he was hanging in the air above the pit. Time seemed to slow down.

 _So this is how I'm going to die,_ Mario thought. _What an utter humiliation._ But Bone would have none of it. Wrapping his own chain around Cruft's body, he zipped out as far as his chain would let him and grabbed Mario in his mouth. He snapped back, taking Mario with him.

"Whew. I thought I was a goner." Mario breathed, but then realized what had happened. "The page! The page fell into that pit!" He looked down into the pit, and saw the page still floating down. However, before he could come up with some sort of plan to grab it, a black shape came out from the darkness and closed in on the page. Mario heard a sickening _CHOMP_ noise.

"Oh no!" Dot said. "The page! Now what will we do?" Mario peered down into the gap, but saw nothing.

Suddenly, the entire hole glowed with a soft brown light, and rocks jutted out from around the hole. Mario and his partners jumped back as they watched more and more rocks join them, until a gigantic castle had sprouted up from the hole. Mario felt like his eyes were popping out of his head.

"Oh. Em. Gee! Did that just happen?" Dot squealed. "This is really, really bad."

From inside the gigantic stone castle, they heard a growl, and then a full-on roar.

"Better tack on another 'really' there, Dot." Mario deadpanned. "But at least now we have a shot at getting that page. We need to go in there!"

"Hey, you be holdin' up just a second here, got it?" Cruft demanded. "Some gigantic castle plume grows out of the ground, and you're just fixin' to jump on in there and be killed by whatever's inside?"

Mario sighed. "Cruft, I've been in worse fixes than this. Whatever's in there is powerful, sure, but we can still beat it." Cruft just sighed.

"I sure hope you're right, whippersnapper. If we die, I'm never forgivin' you." Mario chuckled.

"I wouldn't worry about that." he said. He dashed over to the castle's entrance and opened two ominous obsidian doors. Cruft looked annoyed, but Dot was trembling.

"I'm kind of scared, Mario…" Dot admitted. "I really don't want to die."

"What did I just tell Cruft?" Mario asked Dot. "We'll be able to stop whatever's in there. We always have." And with that, Mario dashed inside the castle, into a stone-lined corridor filled with skeletal Koopa Troopas.

"Demons!" Cruft shouted. "Monsters of the undead!" Mario just sighed.

"They're Dull Bones. They're just skeletons of Koopa Troopas. I'd guess they were reanimated by the power of the page, but we can still beat them easily. Trust me, Cruft, I've dealt with worse.

"Guess I ain't got a choice." Cruft sighed. "This is really gettin' stranger and stranger.

And so it continued, as Mario and his friends traversed the gigantic stone castle, defeating Dull Bones and Bald Clefts along the way. All in all, exploring the castle was uneventful, but it was fruitful in terms of items, as Mario collected more than his share of them, probably of stuff that had fallen down the pit.

Eventually, they reached a tower, and they begun climbing the harrowing stone staircase. Dull Bones had taken to throwing bones down from the uppermost level, and it was all Mario could do to dodge the occasional bone thrown down at them. At last they reached the top.

"It's about time we got here." Mario said. "We're pretty much out of mushrooms." Everyone else was inclined to agree, but the gigantic black doors were a bit of a turnoff for them.

"Come to be thinkin' of it, I got some business I gotta be takin' care of back at town. I'll see ya around, Mario." Cruft tried to run down the steps, but Mario stopped him.

"Look, we're in this together. And I promise, if we die, you can exact due revenge on me." Mario promised.

"Fine." Cruft muttered, apparently not realizing what dying really meant. _Maybe it's different for a living rock,_ Mario thought. He pushed open the doors to find himself in a gigantic room. If this were a normal castle, this might be a ballroom or even, due to the grandeur, a throne room. But there was something about this room that was a lot more sinister than that. Like the gigantic reptilian beast staring at him. Mario leaped back.

"Told ya." Cruft muttered. "This ain't gonna end well." Mario and Dot were both trembling, but Bone proved braver and rushed out and started barking angrily at the beast. The monster roared, and Bone quickly retreated and curled up around Mario's leg.

" **Who dares to come near the grandeur of the great reptilian ruler of the earth, Dirttail?** " The dragon roared. Mario stepped up to it, trembling.

"We just need something that you swallowed… The page of a book… If you'd be so kind…" Mario began, but Dirttail cut him off.

" **You mean the page that has given me my new power? For years I have slumbered in that hole, powerless, only able to make the gorge grow as I slept. But with this new power, I am invincible! I will rule over this land and make all of you fear me!** " The dragon laughed.

"Guys, we've got no choice. We've got to fight it." Mario told the trio of partners.

"N-no p-problem, M-mario. We're b-behind you all the w-way." Dot stuttered. The poor Toadette was trembling, and Mario couldn't blame her. The dragon in question was a gigantic brown beast. Unlike dragons that Mario had faced in the past, this one had no limbs and would be more similar to a snake than a dragon if it weren't for its gigantic head. Mario closed his eyes and realized he had no choice. He'd have to fight the dragon. He dashed up to Dirttail's gigantic head and jumped on it.

" **You'll regret that, puny human.** " The dragon roared, and thumped his tail against the rocky floor, sending an avalanche of rocks raining from the ceiling. Mario managed to block the attack, but his partners weren't so lucky.

"Dot! Cruft! Bone! You okay?" He asked them. Dot nodded weakly, and Cruft concurred. Mario figured that he'd be able to take some hits, seeing as he had a body made of rock and all. All of the partners seemed to be trying to attack the gigantic creature, but it was unimpressed. Only Dot seemed to be hanging back, jotting something down onto her notepad.

"Dot! What do you have on that thing?" Mario asked.

"Well, that thing's Dirttail. It's apparently an Earth Dragon or something like that. Its max HP is 25, Defense is 3, and Attack is 4. It's really strong and has a rocky armor, but if you manage to chip its armor using some powerful attack, it should go down really easily." She said. Mario nodded.

"Bone, we need your help." Mario shouted. Bone dashed over to Mario, eagerly awaiting his instructions.

" **Foolish heroes. You cannot stand up to my power. I will destroy you!** " the dragon roared. It looked at the plumber, who seemed to be whispering something to the Chain Chomp. " **Listen to me when I'm talking to you, fool!** " the dragon growled. Suddenly, Mario grabbed Bone's chain and swung it around, and around, and around. Finally, he let go, and Bone whizzed at the speed of a bullet at the dragon's head. It roared, and Mario noticed that its armor was cracking around its head.

"Now's our chance, guys!" he shouted. "Whale on its head with all you've got!" At that instruction, everyone leaped at the dragon. Dot headbutted it, Cruft extended his spikes and charged into it, and Bone continuously bit it. The dragon's rocky attacks were no match for the four heroes, and soon enough, the dragon fell.

" **You will never defeat me… I am invincible… I am…** " Dirttail growled those last few words, then crumbled into dirt. In the wreckage of the gigantic creature were a few Koopa skeletons, some rocks, and the Page of the Rune, somehow intact. Mario dashed over to it and gingerly placed it into the book. The book glowed, and suddenly Mario was somewhere else.

Mario was surrounded by all sorts of colors. "Greetings, Mario…" a voice said. "I am Terra, guardian of the earth. My time to communicate with you is short, so listen well. I am the spirit of the earth element, bound within the pages of the Rune. You must find the other pages, for only then can we defeat N…" Suddenly, Mario was back on the castle's tower, but the castle was rumbling.

"Run, Mario! It's gonna blow!" But it was too late. The entire castle came down. Mario and his friends clung to a rock, and somehow, it worked. Their fall was broken.

"Hey, it fell in the direction of the town! We're back at the town!" Dot shouted. "We're safe! And we got the page!" She ran around happily, and Bone followed with the same level of enthusiasm. Mario decided not to share the vision he'd had. They'd all think he was crazy.

"So what was all of that ruckus about?" Cruft asked. "About the 'savin' the world' and whatnot?" Mario quickly brought him up to speed, and Cruft grinned.

"I've been fixin' to get out of this one-horse town. I'd like to be goin' with you youngsters." Cruft said. Mario heartily agreed, and the foursome headed back to the town, anxious as to what the future might bring.

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 **So, that's Chapter 1. Look forward to a short interlude with the Princess, and some more backstory before we get to Chapter 2. If you liked it, leave a review and tell me what you think!**


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